Memories and Regrets
by reno-xxxXXXxxx
Summary: Part I in a Series... Due to a conversation with Elena, all Reno's regrets come back to haunt him. Can the others find out what's wrong or will he dwell in his past for the rest of his life?
1. Chapter 1

**Authors note:** First chapter of my new story. Don't worry I haven't forgotten about The Beginning, but it's starting to come to an end now. This is gonna be a little different to my previous stories, so let me know what you think, k? It needs to get started first of course!!

* * *

Chapter 1

"Reno, don't do that." Elena took the pencil off him that he had just been sat chewing. "Eww, Reno, that's disgusting." She wiped it on his sleeve. "Don't you have someone else to annoy?"

"Nope."

"Where's Rude?"

"Dunno."

"Tseng?"

"Dunno."

"I hate it when you get like this, Reno. Just find _something _to do." Elena sighed.

"Ahh, you love it really."

"No I don't."

"Yeah you do."

Elena groaned and gave him the pencil back. "Shut it."

Reno smirked as he chewed on the pencil. He loved annoying Elena.

These past 4 weeks had been completely lifeless though. No missions, no paperwork. Usually, Reno would take this as an opportunity to do little as possible, but he was starting to get restless.

"Right, if your that bored, you can come with me." Elena said, jumping to her feet.

"Where you going?"

"To get a present for my cousin. I was gonna get it after work, but as there's no work to do…"

"Who's your cousin? Is she good-looking?"

"She looks a lot like me actually."

"That's a no then." He laughed. Elena thumped him on the shoulder.

"Oww, so, what's her name?"

"Rihanna." She said quietly. Reno's face dropped.

"What?" She said

"Nothing…I just though you said…nothing." He said, sadly.

"So you coming or what?"

"No, I think I'm gonna head home early."

"You'll get it from Tseng." She warned. He ignored her and walked out of the door, leaving Elena staring after him.

* * *

"Elena? You here?" Tseng voice came from the doorway. She looked up.

"Hey." She said.

"Where's Reno?" he sat next to her.

"He went hours ago."

"Why doesn't that surprise me."

"I dunno, I think there might be something up."

"What do you mean?"

"He seemed…really down when he left. As soon as I mentioned my cousin, Rihanna."

"Hmm…strange. Well I'm sure he'll be ok. After I'm finished with him that is."

"Don't be too hard on him."

"Since when were you so concerned about Reno's well being?"

"I'm not…I mean. Just…Never mind. Where's Rude?"

"Day off. Did no one tell you that?"

Elena shook her head.

"Hmm." Tseng looked at the work Elena had been doing. "You look like you've done a lot of work, get going." Tseng pointed to the door.

"Huh?"

"You don't have long left anyway, there's nothing else for you to do. You might as well go."

"Hmm. Okay then." Elena put her jacket on.

"And see if you can find Reno." He shouted after her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Authors note:** Chapter 2!! well, this is gonna get going, i guess it's kinda confusing at first, but it will all become clear!! enjoy

* * *

Chapter 2

Reno put his hands in his pockets and looked up at the sky. He had no idea where he was going, he just needed to get away…that name, Rihanna, it struck something up in is memory that he hadn't though about for a long time.

Completely lost in his thoughts, he didn't see the person who he walked into.  
"Sorry." He said distantly.

"Reno?" the woman replied.

"Oh, Elena."

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah." He smiled. "I'm fine. I just needed…some air, you know."

"Yeah, ok." Elena could she past his false smile, but she decided not to press the situation. "So…where you going now?"

"Oh? I dunno…home…I guess."

"Well, ok. Well maybe you just need some sleep, take care, ok?" She smiled at him.

"Yeah, see ya later." He waved her off and headed off in the direction of his apartment.

* * *

Reno sat bolt upright, his aqua-marine eyes wide, and his body covered in icy sweat. He took deep breaths and got up, heading to the bathroom. He hadn't had a dream as vivid, and horrifying as that in a long time. He caught sight of the clock on the wall; 6:30. Well that was enough time to get another hour or two of sleep. He splashed his face with cold water and looked at himself in the mirror. His eyes were still wide with terror, his skin pale and he was shaking slightly. There was no way Tseng was going to believe that he hadn't had a hard nights drinking….

"Reno not here yet?" Tseng looked at his watch, "He's already an hour late."

"Have you not heard anything from him at all then?" Elena said looking up.

"No…"

"Oh…" She looked back down.

"What? You look worried. Anything I should know?"

"No, nothing."

All at once, there was a muffled shout of "sorry!" and Reno stepped into the room. He sighed and sat down next to Elena.

"Reno there you are…oh god, what happened to you? You look like hell."

"Thanks." He said hoarsely.

"Fun night last night, was it?" Tseng said.

"No, not really."

Tseng sighed and went out of the room. Reno put his feet up on the desk in front of him and shut his eyes.

"So you sleep in, then come into work and sleep here as well?" Elena asked, laughing slightly.

"That's the idea." He replied lazily. Elena shook her head and got back to her work. After about five minutes she spoke up again.

"Reno? I was wondering, Rihanna, you know, my cousin. She's having a party. Do you wanna come? I know you enjoy things like that."

Reno looked up at her and shook his head.

"No thanks… think I'll pass."

Another moments silence passed, which was broken, once again, by Elena.

"So, what's up? Did you not sleep? You look terrible."

"I'm fine…just didn't sleep too good…it's ok."

* * *

Reno sat alone, in silence, listening to the storm outside. Tseng had let them go a little earlier because of it. He loved stormed, the fact that they were so beautiful…yet powerful and destructive. It reminded him…well, of things of the past. He put the photograph he was looking at on the coffee table and turned on the T.V. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Reno ignored it.

"Reno? It's me." He heard Elena's voice. He sighed and got up to let her in.

"Hey, thought I'd just come and keep you company." She said brightly. Even the short walk from her apartment to his had been enough to let the rain soak her to the skin. Her uniform was saturated, and her short blond hair was dripping. Reno motioned for her to come in.

"Are you going to want to borrow some clothes, by any chance?" he asked, closing the door.

"Umm..yeah."

"I've only got mine, so they'll be a bit big." He dug out the smallest clothes he had; and old t-shirt and some black jeans. She took them, smiling.

"Thanks." She headed to the bathroom, and Reno went and sat back down on his couch.

Reno looked up as Elena came back into the room. Both the jeans and the t-shirt were ridiculously too long. She stared at him.

"Don't you ever change out of your uniform?" she said.

"Do you even have to ask?" Elena laughed as Reno went and turned on the light.

"So," she said when he sat back down, "What's on your mind?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Authors note: **Another update!! Well, if you think about it in the right way, you can start to understand this story already, if not, well... you will soon!

* * *

Chapter 3

"You can't honestly tell me it's nothing. Every time I mention my cousin, you go like this. What is it?" Elena said pressingly. "Please, Reno?"

"Honestly, it's nothing. I'll get over it."

"Well, you're not gonna tell me, are you?" she sighed. "Who's that, then?" she was looking at the photograph Reno had put on the coffee table. It showed him, and a girl, about 15 years old. They looked very alike; she had the same red hair and aqua-marine eyes. Both were smiling widely and Reno had his arm around her shoulder.

Reno looked sadly at the photograph.

"She's my sister."  
"Oh? I've never seen her before. You've never mentioned her either."

"She's dead."

"Oh…sorry." The tone of his voice was terrible. She would have preferred it if he had broke down in tears, but she knew he would never do that.

"Don't worry about it." He took the photo from her, "What's past is past, there's not a lot you can do about it."

Elena desperately wanted to know more about his sister, but she really didn't want to press the situation. She wasn't sure if it was bothering him or not.

"I suppose you wanna know about her, right?" he said grimly.

"I..wh..?" she stammered.

"I know you too well." He smiled slightly. "She died…two weeks after this photo was taken. Murdered." Elena was surprised at how calm his voice was, as though he was just talking about the weather.

"How old was she?" Elena asked.

"14…two years younger than me."

"Oh…"

"Our parents were killed at the same time. I saw the whole thing."

"Your…? What did you do?"

"I managed on my own. I had to do a bit of thieving here and there, but that's all I could do."

"Oh…" she was lost for words

"Don't worry yourself, I'm fine now, ain't I?"

"Well, yeah I guess, but…who…?"

"It was a big gang…there was…nothing…anyone could do about it." He seemed to falter slightly at these words.

"Well, I'm sure there wasn't. If there's a lot of people involved…"

"Yeah…" he perked up a bit, "Well, looks like that storm's died. You gonna head back before it starts again?"

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea." She smiled. "You gonna be ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." He handed her a jacket. "Yours probably ain;t gonna work too well at the moment." He looked at her still-saturated jacket.

"Thanks." She said, putting it on. Reno held the door open as she stepped outside in the dark.

"See you tomorrow?" she said.

"Yeah, of course."

* * *

The next day when Elena walked in, Reno was nowhere to be seen. This was not surprising, however, as he was usually at least 20 minutes late every day. What she wasn't expecting though, was the building to be completely empty. Tseng and Rude were gone. She put her back down on a chair, noticing the piece of paper laid on the desk. Reading it, it told her that Tseng and Rude were both out on a mission. Sighing, she sat down to finish the work she started yesterday.

Elena looked up at the clock on the wall. 2:30pm, and both Tseng and Rude were still not back. The she remembered. Reno. It was unusual, even for him, to be 6 and a half hours late. She picked up her cell phone and dialled his number. No answer. She tried again, and still nothing. The she tried Tseng.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Tseng. Have you heard form Reno?"

"What? No. Has he not turned up?"

"Nope. He's not answering the phone either."

"Oh…well, just leave it. I'll sort it out later. Have you finished that work?"

"Yeah, just now."

"Well, you can head home then. Maybe you can drop in on Reno on your way back."


	4. Chapter 4

**Authors note: **Okay, so it starts to get going now. Not really much to say about his one, just enjoy, and please review!

* * *

Chapter 4

Reno stretched out his legs and looked up at the sky. Coming here wasn't the best idea he had ever had, he thought to himself as he sat on the park bench, but he felt he needed to for some reason. He looked over to the house that stood opposite him. It was slightly run down, but it was a home after all. It had been his. He looked down at his cell phone when it started ringing again. Elena. He sighed to himself and pressed the cancel button. He looked back over to the house, smiling to himself as he remembered some of happy times he had spent there.

* * *

It had been a hot, summer's day in the middle of July. The sun was just setting, so the kids of the neighbourhood were all venturing out to play in the cool evening. Among them were two red-headed children. Brother and sister; inseparable, and everyone knew it.

Reno had been just twelve at the time, and his sister, 10. He was sitting out, relaxing in the evening sun, while he watched his sister out of the corner of his eye, playing. He watched her put her head underneath a nearby bush and then pull it out again.

"Reno!" she suddenly called.

"Yeah?" he replied smiling.

"There's a dead something under here."

"Yeah…?" he laughed.

"Come get it."

"What do I want with a dead animal?"

"You have to! It might not be really dead."

Reno sighed and jumped to his feet, brushing off the dirt. He headed over to the bush that his sister was standing next to. Sighing again he looked under the bush and quickly jumped backwards as he saw a pair of bright green eyes staring at him.

"Reno?"

"Let me ask you something…how many dead things do you see that stare at you with bright green eyes?"

"Umm… I don't know. Sorry." She hung her head sadly. He smiled and patted her on the back. "Hey, don't worry…" He put his hand under the bush to try and grasp whatever it was that was under the hedge. His sister watched with interest as he bit his lip and his eyes began to water. He pulled his hand out, now with a small, black cat attached to it, its claws and teeth sunk deep into his fingers. He shook his hand and the cat let go, running off in the opposite direction.

"That's what I get for caring for the environment…" Reno said to himself as he nursed his bleeding hand. His sister laughed and clung onto his other arm. They both sat down, her head leaning on his shoulder. Reno leant back against the wall and closed his eyes.

* * *

"Reno?" he heard a voice behind him. "There you are."

Elena came by and sat down next to him. "You okay? I tried to catch you at home, but you weren't there…obviously."

"I'm fine." He said smiling. "I just came for a walk."

"Oh, okay. It's just…you didn't answer your phone."

"Never heard it." He said casually.

"Oh. Why are you here then?"

"No particular reason." She watched him as he glanced over to the house again.

"Reno… you know, you told me what happened to your family?" he nodded, "Did you ever…cry, after that?"

"No…"

"It's just that, if you keep it to yourself all your life, it will come back out, you know that, don't you?"

He stayed silent, looking ahead.

"It's just that…I dunno, Reno. You've been acting differently since you told me. I was just wondering if maybe, you needed to talk about it some more?"

"I'm ok, really. I've just…not been sleeping well."

"Why?"

"I don't know. If I knew that I would be doing something about it." He snapped.

"Sorry." He added quietly.

"That's ok." She said, getting up, "Just remember, if you ever decide to swallow your pride and admit that you need to, I'll always talk with you." She smiled and walked off in the direction she came from.


	5. Chapter 5

**Authors note: **Sorry about the delay, compared to my ususal once-daily updates, I only hope it's worth the wait! well...enjoy

* * *

Chapter 5

That night, Reno heard something he hadn't heard in a long time. A voice; the voice of the most precious person he had ever known in his life. He had returned to his past, except things were different. She had changed, he had changed; everything. His parents were nowhere in sight, it was just him, and his sister.

"Reno, it happened again." Her haunting voice torn through him like a knife. The knowledge that this wasn't real was more than he could cope with. "They came, Reno. Who are they? You're not going to let them kill me, are you? Not like last time…"

"No…listen…" he tried to reply to her, but she ignored him.

"It's too late, Reno. They're already gone…I'm already gone."

Reno sat bolt upright. He was disorientated, not sure if this was reality or a dream still. He looked ahead of him, where he could see the out line of a figure. It stepped into the light. A small girl, with fiery red hair.

"Reno…" she said

"What…what's happening?"

"Don't worry, Reno you'll be with me soon." Reno looked into her eyes, which were slowly changing colour. She was changing. A much older person, a woman, now stood in front of him. Her hair had changed to raven black and her eyes a bright scarlet.

"You'll be with us very soon, Reno." She snarled, closing in on him.

* * *

"Now where the hell is Reno?" Tseng said, storming into the room. "He never even turned in yesterday…too bad he knows I won't fire him."

"I'm sure he'll come." Elena said hopefully. Just then was the sound of the front door creaking open and approaching footsteps.

"Reno!" Elena said loudly. "I was starting to think you weren't coming." He looked up at her. They all noticed it. He looked different. Either his skin was several shades paler, or his tattoo's were several shades darker. Or a combination of the two. He looked drawn, and he was darker around the eyes.

"What the hell happened to you?" Tseng said, shocked.

"Nothing." Reno replied. "Why?" he seemed genuinely unaware of the changes in his complexion.

"Nothing, doesn't matter."

Reno looked over at Elena; her mouth was slightly open in surprise. He quickly shut it and shrugged her shoulders. Reno sat next to her as Tseng left the room.

"Why is everyone looking scared of me?" Reno said, looking over to Rude.

"Have you looked in the mirror this morning?" Rude said, looking up.

"No, why?"

Elena fished around in her bag for a mirror. She found it and handed to him.

"Oh god, I look like shit, don't I?" he said, looking in it. "Heh, I look like a vampire. I obviously didn't get as much sleep as I thought last night."

"Reno…?" Elena said awkwardly.

"What?" he snapped. He didn't like the tense atmosphere in the room.

"Reno, Rude, get over here." Came Tseng's voice from the other room. They both got up, making their way towards him. "Mission. Both of you are to go to Costa Del Sol. Rude, I'll give this to you. Make sure you read it." He handed Rude a red envelope. "Now, get going."

The two men stepped out of the building, Reno ahead. Tagging along behind, Rude opened the envelope, pulling out a single piece of paper:

"Rude, do whatever it takes to find out what's the matter with him."


	6. Chapter 6

**Authors note: **update! i know exactly where this is going now, after planning it all out, hope you like it

* * *

Chapter 6

"What the hell are we here for, anyway?" Reno said, looking questioningly at Rude. He cleared his throat.

"Well…Tseng wants you to pull yourself together, Reno. We need to sort out whatever's on your mind."

"There's nothing on my mind." He replied bluntly.

"Is it something to do with your sister? Elena mentioned it…"

"Wait…This ain't a real mission is it?"

"Well…no"

"Why'd you go along with this? All I need is space!"

"Reno, calm down."

"No…I'm outta here." He walked away from Rude.

"Reno…"

"And this has nothing to do with Rihanna."

* * *

"Rihanna? That's my cousin!" Elena said, shocked.

"Yeah…It can't be…"

"No no no, me and Reno aren't related, I saw a picture of his sister anyway. She got red hair like him, my cousin doesn't."

"Where's Tseng anyway?" Rude just looked around, realising that Tseng was missing.

"I think he's talking to Rufus Shinra." Elena replied.

"He needs to know about this."

"So, if Reno's sisters name is Rihanna…it's my fault." Elena looked up at him, her eyed swimming with tears.

"What?"

"I mentioned my cousin, that's when he got like this…"

"It's not your fault, how were you supposed to know? Reno just needs to pull himself together…"

"Has he told you…? About his family?

"They were killed, I know."

"What are we gonna do, Rude?"

"Huh?"

"If we don't do something, Reno's gonna do something really stupid, you know it as well as I do."

"Well…I think we need to talk to Tseng …And then we all need to approach Reno. He can't walk off then."

"So his sister has the same name…that's what triggered this off." Tseng said. Elena had just explained the situation to him as soon as he returned from Rufus Shinra's office.

"Yeah…"

"Elena? If you don't mind, I want you to try talking to him first. You seem to have been the most successful in getting it out of him."

"Yes, sir. You want me to go now?"

"Yes."

Elena grabbed her jacket and headed for the door.

* * *

The door to Reno's apartment was slightly ajar when Elena arrived. It creaked slightly as she opened it and stepped inside. Upon closing the door, she was plunged completely into darkness. She felt along the wall for a light switch.

"Reno?" she called nervously, "Are you here?"

She stepped into his living room and turned on the light in there too to reveal Reno curled up on the couch, looking at the photograph in his hands by the dim light of the window.

"Reno?"

"Hey." He said quietly.

"Reno…We have to talk about this some more…" she sat down next to him, he looked up at her. Elena had to hold in a gasp of shock, he looked worse than he had this morning, his skin still paler and his eyes had a slightly glazed look.

"Your sister…her name was Rihanna, wasn't it?"

"Yep."

"Well, it's my fault then, I triggered off the memories that had been pushed to the back of your head. Reno…I'm sorry."

"Hey, it's okay. I'm fine now. Just needed time, you know me."

"Yes I do. You never let people in. That's why this happened in the first place."

"No, 'Lena, you don't understand. That's not the problem anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"Last night…"

"What happened?" Elena said eagerly.

"I dreamed, there was a woman. She was a vampire…she bit me."

Elena looked at him, not being able to help glancing at his neck. There they were…faint but fairly obvious, bite marks.

"Umm…Reno? That wasn't a dream."


	7. Chapter 7

**Authors note: **Another update! Thanks so much to all my loyal reviewers; your comments are greatly appreciated. This chapter is pretty short, but it seemed an appropriate cut-off point

* * *

Chapter 7

"What?!" Reno said, shocked. He rand his fingers down his neck, feeling where the bite was. "I'm not a vampire though…"

"I think…vampirism is a luck-of-the-draw thing. Just because you're bit, doesn't mean you become one." Elena said sadly.

"But…I don't get it. That was a dream…"

"Sorry, Reno. It wasn't."

"But that woman…" he stopped. Elena looked up at him expectantly. She could see the confusion in his eyes.

"What? Who is she?"

"She's…Her name is Vanessa."

"And?"  
"And that's it. I don't know anything else. Just leave it." He sounded angry now.

"Sorry, Reno." She got up and left his apartment.

"So, any ideas?" Elena said to Rude and Tseng. She had told the little bit of information she had found out from Reno.

"Well, one thing's for sure…he knows more than he's letting on." Tseng said.  
"Maybe this Vanessa woman has something to do with his sister?" said Rude, just as puzzled as them.

"Could be…but she's a vampire…is Reno a vampire then?" Elena asked Tseng.

"Well all the evidence at the moment points to yes. But he hasn't bitten anyone. Except from his changed complexion, he's fine."

"I don't really know a lot about vampires." Elena thought for a second.

"No, me neither." All three Turks sat pondering for a few minutes.

"Is he actually coming today?" Tseng asked Elena, she was shocked that he was asking her that question.

"I don't know, I'll call him if you want." Tseng nodded and Elena took out her cell phone.

"Reno?"

"Now what?" he sighed.

"I was…just wondering, are you coming today?"

"No…tell Tseng I'm on a sick day."

"Can't you just try?"

"No." he snapped. "Sorry, just please, don't push it."  
"Okay. Well, see you…whenever." He closed her phone and shook her head.

"That's a no, then?" Tseng asked, already knowing the answer.

"That's a no." Elena confirmed. They all sat in silence for a few minutes.

"Oh, that's it." Tseng said impatiently, jumping to his feet. "I'm going to find out what's wrong with him if it's the last thing I do." He strode out of the door, Elena and Rude staring after him.

* * *

Reno had no idea where he was, or where he was heading. It was his instinct that told him to go here. He slipped silently into the dark alleyway, coming face to face with a very familiar woman.

"Glad you could make it, Reno." She said, smirking.

"V-Vanessa?" he stuttered.

"Well done. Well, you've gotten yourself into a bit of a mess now, haven't you?"

"Don't talk to me like that." He snapped. "I know what I'm doing."

"Do you though? All you need is the help of your own kind…" she held out her hand. "Come with me, Reno. I'll show you how to control it…"

"There's nothing that needs controlling."

"Of course not…that's just what your dear, dear sister said." She sneered.

"What? What about her?" Vanessa began to walk away. "Don't you run away from me now!" he shouted. She turned back to face him.

"You're the one that's running, Reno."


	8. Chapter 8

**Authors note: **Not really a lot to say about this one, just linking it all together well enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 8

"Reno?" Tseng hammered on Reno's apartment door. "You here?" He sighed and leaned against the door. He looked up as he saw the familiar figure of Reno heading towards him.

"Tseng? What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Reno…just tell us, okay? What's going on?" His eyes widened as Reno looked up at him. His complexion had changed yet again, and the contrast of this and his bright red hair made him look very ill.

"Nothing's going on, just not feeling my best, that's all."

"Yeah right." He crossed his arms. "I expect you at work tomorrow with a reason for all this, at least one I will believe." He made his way back to Shinra headquarters.

* * *

The scene was exactly how Tseng had left it. As soon as he entered the room Elena jumped up.  
"Sir, we've come up with an idea!" she said excitedly.

"Oh yeah?" he sighed, sitting down.

"Yeah…Valentine." Rude said.

"Vincent?"

"Yeah! He's a vampire!" Elena said happily.

"So?"

"Well, whoever this woman is, she's obviously a vampire…I'm sure Valentine knows more about vampire's than we do. But the only problem is contacting him."

"He'll still be on our records…"

"I'll go look." Rude said, getting to his feet.

"Why won't he talk to us?" Elena said sadly. They were still waiting for Rude.

"I don't know. Maybe he's…he doesn't want to accept that it's true. You know, like he said to you, he thought it was a dream."

"So he's like, in denial?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"There's no contact on here." Came Rude's voice from the next room.

"Looks like we're gonna have to go find him ourselves." Tseng sighed.

"Well, maybe if we head to Lockheart's bar, she might know something." Elena said.

"Well, I suppose." He looked up. "We need to do this, even if it means crawling back to old enemies."

* * *

Tifa's Seventh Heaven bar was somewhere none of the Turks had been for a long time. They all felt a little awkward as they stepped inside, as most people in there turned around to look at them. Fortunately, it looked like their luck was turning as they saw the familiar black hair and red cloak of Vincent Valentine in the corner. They walked over to him, ignoring the glances from other customers. Tseng tapped him on the shoulder.

"I was expecting this." He said quietly. He stood up and walked out of the bar, motioning for the three Turks to follow him. He stopped outside and turned to face them. "You're here about the other Turk, aren't you? Reno?" he said

"Yeah." Tseng replied.

"I've seem him, I know." he said quickly, seeing Elena's puzzled look. "If you're searching for a way out of this, I suggest you try the Sector 5 slums. Unknown to most people, there are an unusual amount of vampires living in that area."

"We're searching for some one called Vanessa." Elena piped up.

"Vanessa…we've met. She is, of course, one of the vampires in Sector 5."

Tseng looked at him for a minute. "Wait, why are you telling us all this so easily?"

Vincent stared back at him, his red eyes seemed to be filled with pity of some sort.

"Because, I know how dangerous a vampire can be, especially when he's not in control. There's no sense in letting other people get hurt." He turned and walked back into the bar, but they didn't follow him.

"Well then, Sector 5 it is." Said Elena.

"I think it would be better if we went to get Reno first." Tseng replied. "We'd better take him with us. We don't want him causing any trouble. We've been lucky so far, but our luck could turn."


	9. Chapter 9

**Authors note : **Finally, an update. Firstly, Apologies for the longer-than-usual wait, have been having some trouble at home which involved me moving all my stuff, including my stories, to the other side of town. For the same reasons, I have been finding it hard to concentrate on writing, but I tried my best, so please let me know how this one turns out. Secondly, I have had to use OpenOffice from now on, so sorry if it turns out a little different. I hope you still enjoy!!

* * *

Chapter 9

As the four Turks made their way cautiously across the Sector 5 slums, Elena couldn't stop herself from being nervous. She kept looking across at Reno, who was walking next to her, as though expecting him to jump on her and bite her. But he did nothing. It may have been the setting sun that was making her nervous, the full moon ahead of them getting brighter and brighter. She looked over again at Reno, who was now staring back at her, his pale skin enhanced by the moonlight, and a strange glint in his eyes. He grinned at her, which made her even more nervous. Suddenly, Tseng stopped.

"This is it." he said quietly. They had stopped outside a very run-down building. In fact, if Tseng hadn't have pointed it out, Elena probably wouldn't have even noticed it.

"Are you sure?" Elena asked, temporarily forgetting about Reno. It didn't possible that any one could live here, even vampires. She turned around to see what Reno thought of this, only to see the was no where to be found.

"What the...?" she said. "Reno?"

"He's gone?" Tseng looked around too. A dog howled somewhere n the distance, making Elena jumped.

"Come on." Tseng said, "Let's go, we'll come back tomorrow."

"But what about Reno?" Rude said.

"We'll come back for him. He's a vampire now. And it's night-time. It's too dangerous."

Elena and Rude nodded and followed Tseng as he made his way out of the Sector 5 slums.

* * *

Elena couldn't sleep that night. She was expecting Reno to walk in on her, and every little noise from the town outside made her heart skip a beat. Finally, she managed to drop off, and the next thing she knew, the clock on her wall said 10:30am. She was running very late. She got up and quickly got dressed and washed, and made her way out of her apartment, locking the door behind her.

As she entered the Turks HQ, she looked at her watch. 11:00. She put her bag down on the chair, looking at the paperwork on the table. There appeared to be none for her, so she headed straight to the cafeteria.

The last sight she expected when she walked in was Tseng and Rude sitting at a table across the other side of the room, with Reno. She walked over to them smiling, and sat down next to Reno.

"Hey, where did you come from?" she asked, curious.

"Err, home." he said, confused. Elena looked over at Tseng, who shook his head.

"But... never mind." she looked at him. Both Tseng and Rude were in the middle of eating breakfast, but Reno had nothing. They all recognised this as very unusual. Not only could Reno manage to eat the terrible cafeteria food, he also managed to eat twice as much as the rest of them, in half the time.

"Aren't you getting anything to eat?" she asked him

"Nah, not hungry."

"You surprise me every day, Reno. Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah...Well, I'm bored. I'm gonna go see if I can find anyway to piss off Ru...I mean, something to do." He left the three other Turks staring after him.

"What the hell is wrong with him?" Elena said, shocked. It wasn't just that day either, since his vampire incident, he hadn't been the same. In fact , he wasn't the Reno they knew anymore.

"He doesn't remember going anywhere yesterday." Tseng told her. "I don't know if that's because of what happened, or whatever, but something needs to be done about it."

"You're right." Elena replied, "I hate to admit it, but I'm starting to miss the old Reno."

* * *

It seemed that Reno had not been able to find a way to annoy their boss, as he sat at his desk, fiddling with Elena's pen. She entered the room, glancing at Reno.

"You okay?" she asked him.

"Yep." he replied, quite cheerfully. He carried on fiddling with the pen.

"Ummm...Reno?" He looked up. "Do you...remember what happened yesterday?"

"When?"

"We went to the Sector 5 slums, remember?"

He shook his head. "I dunno."

"This is strange Reno. What's up with you?"

"Nothing."

He had not told any of them that thoughts of his past still lingered at the back of his mind, haunting him at any time his mind wasn't otherwise preoccupied. He just wanted to think things over on his own, although he knew that Elena was right. He shouldn't keep things to himself. Also, he could feel the effects of vampirism taking their toll. Although he didn't have any blood lust, he didn't have an appetite for anything else either. Everyday was a struggle to get through, and by the time it was a sensible time to sleep, he was wide awake, ready to face the night. The result of this...was not looking good.

"Come on, Reno." Elena pleaded. "You haven't been the same, ever since I mentioned Rihanna... I told you that it's bad to keep things bottled up inside." she knew she was annoying him now, but she wouldn't give up. "Please?"

"Seriously, 'Lena. It's supposed to be my job to piss people off until they wanna tear their hair out, not yours." he sounded quite annoyed.

"Sorry, it's just...I'm worried about you Reno. We all are."


	10. Chapter 10

**Authors note: **Well, there's not a lot I can say about this one. Everything's starting to get going now, I guess. lol. Well enjoy, and please review!

* * *

Chapter 10

"Can you please tell her to leave me alone?" Reno said angrily as Tseng entered the room. Elena had left about 10 minutes ago after Reno telling her politely where to go.

"Can you not see her point, Reno?" he replied.

"She doesn't have one. There's nothing wrong with me." he said loudly.

"Whatever you say. But I would have thought you would be able to see the difference in yourself."

Reno remained silent, confused about Tseng's comment. He laid a file down in front of him.

"Let me know when you're ready to re-try that mission." He left the room.

* * *

"Elena!" Reno said loudly, she re-entered the room. "What's this mission Tseng's going on about?"

"I thought you didn't want me to talk to me again today." she said coldly.

"Awww, 'Lena, I was only joking."

"Only 'cause you want to know what the mission is." she pouted.

"Well you're going anyway, so no skin off my back." he said lazily.

"We on a vampire hunt." she said suddenly, sitting next to him.

"Vampire hunt?"

"Sure. We're trying to find the vampire that bit you."

"What!? No, no, no. I don't think so." He said, sounding shocked.

"What are you talking about? You were about to do it yesterday before you disappeared." she was almost shouting now.

"When?" he looked at her, puzzled.

"Oh, Reno. This is ridiculous. Why can't you just accept our help?"

"Because I don't need it. I know what I'm doing."

Elena screamed in annoyance and stormed out of the room, knocking into Tseng on her way out.

"Now what?" Tseng said, putting his hand to his forehead. He could feel a headache coming on.

"Fuck knows." Reno replied quietly, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Ready for the mission?" he asked. Reno got to his feet.

"Like I have a choice..."

* * *

The second time, Elena didn't feel so uncomfortable, probably a combination of the fact that it was daylight, just; and Reno was too angry with her to look at her.

"Well?" said Tseng, turning to Reno. "Recognise any of it?" Reno shook his head. Once again they stopped outside the old, run-down building, except this time, there was a figure outside. It was a young woman, dressed entirely in black, with flaming red hair. Upon seeing them, she pulled a hood over her head, hiding her face, and ran inside.

"Let's go." Tseng said. He turned to check that everyone was still with him, and made his way inside.

Inside the building was nothing like any of them expected. They had stepped into a great hall, with a large statue of a beautiful woman in the middle. It was carved entirely of black stone, as was the rest of the room. There seemed to be no one around, even the person they had just seen outside had vanished. They stepped cautiously forwards.

"We need to try and remain hidden for as long as possible." Tseng said quietly, he headed off towards the shadows, Elena, Rude and Reno following behind.

"So, what's the plan, boss-man?" Reno said in a bored voice.

"We may as well wait here until someone comes out, then at least we can see what we're dealing with." He replied. At that, Reno slumped himself down on the floor, leaning against the wall.

* * *

None of them could say how long they had been waiting there. Reno had become so bored he was now absent-mindedly fiddling with Elena's hair, Elena in return staring into space. Suddenly, they heard footsteps. Reno sat bolt upright, and looked across the room.

It was a woman, one who was horribly familiar to Reno. Suddenly, she laughed.

"So, the Turks did come. She always said they would. Reno – did you come for her?" she said. Her voice was quiet but it echoed through the whole room. Reno jumped to his feet and stepped into the light.

"What the hell are you talking about?" he shouted. The other three Turks had got up and stood behind him.

"Reno, it will soon be dark. Come with me, I'm the only one who can save you now." she held out her hand. Reno ignored it.

"Don't know what you're talking about." he lowered his voice.

"Reno, you can't deny it any more. Vampirism usually runs in families you know, accidental or not."


	11. Chapter 11

**Authors note:** Now that I've finally got this years exams out of the way, I can update more often! Enjoy, and please take a look at another story I have written, which will be uploaded later today, as soon as I've finished typing it up. It's only very short, but please take a look if you enjoy my writing!

* * *

Chapter 11 

Reno stood before Vanessa, his fists clenched tightly and his entire body shaking with anger.

"Don't you dare talk about family in front of me." he said through gritted teeth.

"Why, whatever do you mean?" she replied, with mock puzzlement.

"You killed them. All of them; right in front of me."

"But, Reno, think about it. You destroy people's lives everyday, family after family you've torn apart." she smirked. Reno's muscles relaxed slightly. She was right. He was no better than her; a cold hearted, brutal murderer.

"And even I'm not as bad as you." she carried on, smiling so her sharp teeth showed, "I only killed two people."

"Three." he said quickly.

"Let me ask you this then; how many of your family did you actually see me kill?"

"Three." he repeated.

"Try again."

* * *

Reno had come home that day covered in cuts and bruises. He walked into his house to meet his sisters wide, green eyes, filled with concern.

"Reno!" she hugged him tightly. "What happened? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." he pulled out of the hug and knelt down to her level. "Just don't tell mom or dad, okay?"

"Okay." she sounded unsure.

* * *

Reno's family had always been short on money, and he was desperate to help make a bit extra. He started off with errands for the richer people he knew, like cleaning cars, cutting grass, and his least favourite; baby sittng. After leaving one fo the large housing he spent most of his time in one day, he bumped into a woman. Instead of just smiling and carrying on, she grabbed his arm and pulled him towards her.

"You look like you could do with some extra money." she said kindly. Reno looked at her. She was quite a lot older than him, but strikingly beautiful. He long, raven-black hair was tied back in a neat ponytail, and her scarlet eyed gleamed in the midday sun.

"My name's Vanessa." she smiled at him. It was a smile he would never forget.

* * *

"Reno? What happened?" his sisters sweet voice brought him out of his reminiscence.

"Nothing Rihanna. Just forget it."

He had never meant to get involved. He was just so peeved at anyone better off than him, he would anything to get his share of wealth from them. So he joined Vanessa and her gang. It was perfect; every couple of days, they would plan robberies, and split the profits within the group. This gave Reno enough to support him and his sister. He couldn't give his parents any, because he knew that they would ask questions. Things were finally starting to look up for them . At the time he hadn't known the amount of danger he had put his family in.

"Reno, did you try to leave?" Rihanna asked.

"Leave? What?" he said. How much did she know?

"You got involved with bad people didn't you?" The sound of her innocent voice made Reno so disappointed in himself.

"Things are getting a little too...bad now." he told her. Suddenly they heard shouting downstairs. Reno got up and left the room, Rihanna right behind him. She didn't want to be left alone.

"...Please, leave. I don't want my family involved in this any more." they heard their mothers voice say. Reno's heart leapt when he heard Vanessa's voice reply.

"Just hand over Reno and I'll leave quite voluntarily." she snarled. Reno and Rihanna listened from outside the door.

"No. Please." she sounded desperate now.

"Fine then. You asked for it."

Rihanna gasped as their mother screamed. Reno could take no more and entered the room, Rihanna at his heels.

Vanessa was standing with her back to them, their father laid on the floor, and their mother was slumped at the kitchen table. Both of them were quite clearly dead. Rihanna burst into tears and ran over to their mother.

"Mom?" she said, choking on her own tears.

"It's nice of you to join me, Reno." Vanessa said, turning to face him. He could not say anything. Instead he ran at her, fist at the ready, but she dodged him.

"Nice try, Reno." she said smugly. Reno turned, his eyes fixed on his sister's tear-stained face, he wide eyes staring back at him. Suddenly he felt a sharp pain on the back on his head, His vision blurred and he fell to his knees. He wasn't even able to tell his heart-broken sister to run before he blacked out.


	12. Chapter 12

**Authors note: **Ths one's pretty short, but hey, nevermind, I have updated once already today. Well enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 12 

"Where is she?" Reno hissed.

"Finally caught on have you?" Vanessa said smugly.

"Where is she?" he repeated louder.

"Not the observant kind, are you?" she was almost laughing now.

"Reno!" Elena whispered behind him, "The girl outside, that was her, I'm sure."

"Rihanna... You! Tell me now, where is she?"

"Well you'll have to find her, won't you?" she began to walk away.

"Get back here!" he shouted.

"Just a little game." she called over her shoulder. As she exited the room, Reno shouted in annoyance and ran after her, only to find she had completely vanished. Reno cursed his impulsive nature; he was now completely alone and in pitch black. He paused, something was wrong.

Suddenly his vision became much clearer, as he looked around him, it took him several minutes to remember where he was, and he was struggling to remember why. His mind had gone completely blank.

"Reno?" he heard Rude's husky voice right behind him. He put a hand on Reno's shoulder, but he barely noticed.

"Come on man, we got to find Rihanna."

"Rude?" He became aware of Rude's presence for the first time.

"Come on," Rude repeated. Reno followed the larger man back out into the main hall.

"Alright." sad Tseng upon their arrival. " think considering the circumstances, I think we should all stick together."

"So where do we go from here?" Elena asked.

"No idea." Tseng admitted.

"It would make sense to try over there first." said Rude, pointing to the doorway he had just led Reno away from. Tseng nodded.

"Can't see a thing." Elena said, rubbing her ankle. She had just tripped over for the third time. Reno pulled a flash light out of his pocket and handed it to her absently.

"Nice timing, Einstein." she said, taking it from him. She saw the glazed look he had in his eye. "You okay?"

Reno nodded. She shrugged and turned on the flash light, shining it down the hall. There were several archways ahead of them, but they were all sealed except one. It was as though Vanessa was purposely leading them that way, into a trap. They walked cautiously forwards, Elena pulling on Reno's arm to stop him falling behind.

Another hallway. Long and dark, although there was a dim red glow coming from the archway a the other end. Stepping into the room, they saw a gleaming red crystal in the centre, suspended on a stone pedestal. It made the whole room glow red.

"This must be where she wanted us to go." Tseng said quietly, "There's no where to go from here."

They all turned around to look at Reno, who was standing behind them staring, as though in a trance, at the red crystal. Suddenly, he stared back at them, his eyes suddenly a scarlet to challenge the color of the crystal. He grinned.

"Oh...shit." Tseng said, quietly. "We have to get out of here."

Reno was too fast for them. He darted forwards and grabbed Elena by the neck. She screamed.

"Protect yourself by any means necessary." Tseng told her.

"Reno...no." he head was spinning, she couldn't breath. She struggled, reaching for her pocket, and pulled out a silver knife.

"I'm sorry, Reno." he darted her hand towards him, knife in her hand. Reno suddenly let go of Elena's neck and put his hand to his stomach.

"What?" he gasped, he looked confused. He fell to the ground, unconscious.


	13. Chapter 13

**Authors note: **Woot Update!! Well, I had to write this twice because the comuter crashed, lucky me eh? Heh oh well, enjoy! And don't forget to check out my other story; "What I Do."

* * *

Chapter 13

Elena stood over Reno, not quite believing what she had just done. Suddenly, they heard a scream from the corner of the room.

"Reno!" the figure of a young woman rushed to Reno's aid. She was dressed in black with a hood over her head. Elena watched her, speechless.

"Wait a minute..." Tseng said, he stepped towards the young woman. She raised her head and looked at him, although her eyes were crimson, they were very familiar. He reached out and pulled her hood down, revealing a main of long, unruly, fire red hair.

"Rihanna?"

"Well, well, well." came a voice from behind them. They all turned to see Vanessa standing in the doorway, a smug look on her face. She had gotten exactly what she wanted. "This is quite the situation now, isn't it?"

"This ends here." Tseng said sharply.

"I think you'll find it's only just begun." she laughed. She pointed to behind them; Reno was gone, and within seconds, so was she.

"What now?" said Rude.

"Rihanna, what do you know about this place?" Tseng asked. She shook her head.

"Hardly anything." Even her voice was similar to Reno's. "But we'd better start looking fast. Don't know how long he'll hold out."

"But what do we do? How do we cure him?"

"You mean from a vampire? There's only one way to cure a vampire." she looked at her feet.

"And what's that?"

"Kill the clan leader...Vanessa."

* * *

"Elena, forget it. It's what you had to do, okay?" Tseng said, irritated.

"But...He could be dead. And it would be my fault."

"And if you hadn't have done it, you would be dead instead. It's a lose lose situation."

They had re-entered the main hall, and were now on their way down another corridor. This one was just as dark as the last, and was showing no signs of ending.

"So if we kill Vanessa, you'll be cured too, right?" Elena asked. Rihanna nodded her head.

"But it won't be easy." Elena looked at her crimson eyes.

"Hang on a minute, how come you're not trying to like, kill anyone?" she asked. Rihanna smiled lightly.

"I've been a vampire for so long now, I've learned to control it. It's hard to start with, but I managed it."

After what felt like hours of walking, they came to another room. This one was just as dark as the corridor with nothing in it, except Reno.

"Reno?" Rihanna said cautiously. He looked up at them. His eyes seemed to be filled with some sort of confusion. Although you could see the blood from his knife wound, it didn't seem to bother him at all. Elena stepped forwards.

"Reno..."

He stared her hard in the eyes, obviously trying to distract her. He darted forwards again, but this time she was prepared.

She grabbed hold of his thin wrist and pushed him back.

"Reno, get a hold of yourself, it's me, Elena."

He looked at her, stopping struggling for a minute.

"E-elena?" he stammered. Elena smiled. Then he looked down at where the knife had been just a short while before and grimaced. "H-help." he stumbled forwards, Elena catching him only just in time. She lad him down on the floor and looked at the others.

"We need to find Vanessa." she said.

"No need." once again the vampire had appeared out of nowhere. She watched Reno as he regained his strength and got to his feet. He nodded at Vanessa.

"This is it." she said. The two vampires surrounded the rest of them. "It ends...now."

All at once, Tseng pulled his gun out of his pocket and fired, hitting Vanessa square in the stomach.

"Fool." she said, laughing. "The only one who can kill a vampire is another vampire. Somebody clearly didn't so their research before they came." She raised her arm in the air and began casting a spell, using energy that she appeared to be gaining from the red crystal in the other room. Elena, Rude and Tseng looked at Rihanna and Reno. Their lives now rested in the siblings hands.


	14. Chapter 14

**Authors note:** Hehe, thanks so much to all you people who have reveiwed, especially Le Pecore Nere, who has reviewed every chapter I think. Well, I've never really wrote a proper action scene before, so apologies if it's bad, just let me know, 'kay?

* * *

Chapter 14 

"Here!" Elena said hurriedly, throwing the silver knife that she had previously used on Reno to Rihanna. She caught it and turned to face Vanessa. She was toying with them, taking her time with everything she threw at them. Rihanna wasted no time and launched herself at Vanessa, knife at the ready. She easily dodged it, laughing. She was not trained in combat.

Reno, meanwhile was fighting with Tseng, and winning. Although Tseng had more strength behind him than Reno, he was nowhere near as agile and was struggling to hit him. Rude was, unsuccessfully, trying to pull Reno off him.

"Reno, it's us remember?" Tseng gasped, grabbing Reno's wrists. "Remember, we're not the enemy."

"Tseng?" Reno paused for the moment. Tseng loosened his grip on Reno.

"Someone help!" Rihanna shouted, she couldn't hit Vanessa, and was rapidly loosing her battle. Elena rushed over, leaving Tseng and Rude to deal with Reno. She caught Vanessa by surprise when she snuck up behind her and grabbed her wrists.

"Now!" she shouted. Rihanna went at Vanessa with the knife as Elena held her wrists behind her back. Vanessa looked temporarily stunned, but pulled her wrists free just in time. Ignoring Rihanna, she now put all her efforts into annihilating Elena. She made to punch her, but Elena ducked and thrust her fist into Vanessa's stomach.

Reno was now in two minds as to what side he was on. Tseng and Rude never let their guard down, even when Reno seemed to recognise them. They could never be sure when he was going to lash out at them. He kept trying to get to Elena and Rihanna but they always pulled him back; they were struggling enough as it was.

Vanessa quickly cast "bolt", and it just hit Elena. She screamed, causin Tseng and Rude to turn around. Reno took advantage of this situation and darted in front of them towards Rihanna. He grabbed the knife out of her hand, grinning slightly crazily.

"Reno...no...it's us!" Elena said shakily.

"Don't listen to them Reno. Do the right thing." Vanessa said confidently. Reno looked at the knife in his hand, which was shaking slightly.

"Reno!" Elena almost screamed. "Please!"

"Reno...it's not you..." Rihanna cried, she had tears in her eyes. Reno looked between them all. His three dearest friends on one side, the smug Vanessa on the other, and his crying sister in the middle. His mind was blank as he held the knife in his hand...

* * *

Wooo, cliffhanger!!!!! Hope you enjoyed, please review!! 


	15. Chapter 15

**Authors note: **Mmmkay! this is pretty short, and pretty cheesy XD Nevermind. It seems like this is near the end really doesn't it? But you'll be glad to know (or not as the case may be) that I'm only about half way through!! Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 15

"Reno!" Rihanna screamed. He looked at her, and you could almost see him making his mind up. Vanessa didn't say a word, she just stood there, smug as ever, sure that Reno wouldn't let her down.

Reno laughed to himself and started to run at Elena. She screamed, not seeing the smirk on his face. At the last minute, he turned sharply and thrust the dagger straight into Vanessa's chest, catching her off-guard.

"You're not as stupid as I thought." She said, surprisingly steady for someone who was about do die. "But I if I go…you go." She mimicked Reno's actions and thrust a similar dagger straight into him, near where Elena had stabbed him earlier. Reno choked slightly and fell to the ground, Vanessa following suit nearby. There was only silence as the three Turks and Rihanna watched Vanessa take her last breath.

They all looked at each other, Rihanna finally deciding to approach Reno. She knelt down beside him, he was surprisingly still conscious.

"Reno…you okay?" Rihanna looked at where he was injured. The wound that Elena gave him would be starting to hurt now too, as well as Vanessa's. Obviously in her haste to kill him, she was off-target, and had struck him in the stomach. He passed out.

"Rihanna?" she felt a hand on her shoulder. Elena knelt down beside her. "Look at me."

She raised her head and looked at Elena with her bright green eyes…green. Elena smiled. It had worked.

Three days later, the Turks had returned to the Shinra headquarters, along with Rihanna, and everything had more or less returned to normal.

Except one thing.

Although Reno was stable, he had not come around yet. Nor had he shown any sign of wanting to do so. It had taken Shinra medics hours to be sure that he wasn't going to die any time soon, and he looked worse for wear anyway. Rihanna and Elena went to visit him everyday, usually leaving in tears. Elena still felt terrible for what she did to him, no matter how many times Tseng told her it wasn't her fault.

* * *

Rihanna sat alone beside Reno, her hand in his. Tears were in her eyes again; she couldn't help but feel that this was somehow her fault. She looked at him, his pale face was etched with exhaustion. How could she let this happen to him? Her older brother… he had supported her for so many years….

Suddenly, she felt his hand tighten around hers; he was waking up.

"Reno?" she said hopefully.

"Hey shrimp." He replied weakly. His eyes flickered open, now the shining aquamarine they were meant to be. She smiled; she hadn't heard him talk to her like that in years. "How are you?"

"I'm fine. The medics sorted me out in minutes. It's you who got everyone worried."

"Why?"

"You've been out for three days."

"What's Tseng been saying?" he sounded amused.

"Well, not a lot. Everyone says it's not the same without you."

He laughed lightly, then grimaced at the pain that followed.

"I think I'll milk this for all it's worth, what do you think?" he said, smiling.


	16. Chapter 16

**Authors note: **Well, not much to say about this one. I decided I'm gonna cut my story in half because what I have planned for the rest is much more of a humour fic, rather than angst. So this ones gonna have a few more chapters then keep an eye out for the other half, not sure about the title yet though. Enjoy

* * *

Chapter 16

"Come on Reno, it's been six weeks now, there's no way Tseng's gonna buy this anymore." Elena sighed. She had been sitting by his bed all day bugging him to come back to work.

"Just shut it 'Lena, or I'll shut it for you." He said calmly.

"Reno…."

"Whatever…."

Elena sighed and left the room, leaving Reno smirking to himself. His smirk soon vanished when she returned a few minutes later with Tseng behind her; it was Elena's turn to smirk.

"Elena….you…" he Reno stuttered.

"Sorry Reno." She left the room again.

"Listen, Reno." Tseng started sitting where Elena was.

"Whatever she said it's not true." Reno interrupted. Tseng ignored this childish retaliation and carried on.

"I understand that you will lack motivation at the moment, after what happened…but we really need your help at the moment. We have a lot of missions going on, and Elena especially…."

"Let me ask you something first..." Reno interrupted again. "Is Rihanna helping?"

"Well she's not a Turk, but she has been helping out, yes." Suddenly an idea formed in Tseng's head. "Yes, she's been on some very dangerous missions. Sometimes with Elena, sometimes even alone…"

Suddenly Reno jumped out of bed, cringing slightly at the sudden movement. He wasn't entirely lying, he wasn't completely healthy. Tseng laughed.

"Turks aren't supposed to be gullible." He smiled. "I expect to see you back in the office tomorrow morning." He added, leaving the room.

* * *

"I thought you said Reno was coming in today?" Rihanna asked the next day. They had already been at work for 35 minutes.  
"He is." Tseng said matter-of-factly.  
"He's always late. We get used to it." Elena told her. Just at that moment, Reno walked in the room. Elena had to admit, now he was in his uniform, you could really see the difference in him. Maybe they should have left him a little longer…

"Morning Reno." Said Elena brightly. Reno ignored her and sat heavily down on the chair next to her.

"Well, Rude, Elena, Ready?" said Tseng standing up. The other two Turks followed suit.

"What? Wait a minute! Where the fuck you going?" Reno said grumpily.

"Mission. We left you two some paperwork. I didn't think you'd be up to a mission on your first day back."

* * *

"Screw this." Said Reno, putting his feet on the table.

"Reno?" Rihanna said. Reno looked up, sensing that this was going to be a serious conversation. "There's something wrong still. I know I haven't been with you for ages, but I can still tell."

"Nothing."  
"Are you still thinking about what happened? Because it wasn't your fault."

"Use your head, Rihanna. Of course it was. Who were they after? Me. If I'd have just gone it wouldn't have happened."

"But you were only trying to help…"

"If it wasn't my fault, then who's was it?" Reno stared at his sister, she stayed silent. "Exactly."  
"But…"

"Forget it."

"But Reno, you're living in the past. It's not good…"  
"I'm not living in the past."

They were interrupted by Tseng, Rude and Elena re-entering the room.

"Weather." Said Elena; she was soaked to the skin. Reno looked out of the window. He hadn't noticed the rain outside.

"Good news though." She carried on. "We've got a vacation."

"Vacation?" Reno asked. It was not like Rufus Shinra to agree to such things.

"Yeah. Rufus told us just now." Tseng added. "You're invited as well, Rihanna."

"Count me out." Reno said grimly. He really wasn't in the mood.

"Really? Well it's not for a while anyway, you'll feel better by then." Elena said hopefully.

"Yeah right." Reno got up and left the room, leaving the other four staring after him.


	17. Chapter 17

**Authors note: **Update! I spent a veeeeeeeeery long time writing this. It's a bit of a reminiscing chapter, but I quite like it...I hope you all do too!

* * *

Chapter 17

Reno sat bolt upright, gasping. He had dreamt again; these memories were stuck in his head forever, there was no getting rid of them. They circled around in his head again and again, taking priority over everything else. If only there was some way to completely wipe his memory.

It was strange how before, the only thing he was bothered about was Rihanna, now it was his parents. He couldn't get rid of the image of that dreadful day, every night he woke up with his mothers piercing scream ringing in his head. They had tried their best, but in the end, it was no good. Their lives had been too bad; they hadn't deserved to live like that. Reno, maybe, but not them. People told him it was a bad idea, some one will end up getting hurt, but he had been his usual arrogant self and ignored them.

Vanessa, the woman that had killed them; that had taken everything precious to Reno away from him for many years was now dead, but her image was still in Reno's head. He deserved to die like her. She may have been the one that killed them, but it was just as much his fault. What would have happened if he _had_ died in Sector 5? Would the others be better off without him? They seemed to moan about him a lot, so maybe they would. And Rihanna, would she care? Maybe he should leave now…no. That would be selfish of him. First he takes away her parents, then her brother. Brother…it was strange hearing him call himself that, he hadn't acted much like one after all.

He still remembered Vanessa's words, _"But, Reno, think about it. You destroy people's lives everyday, family after family you've torn apart__." _She was right. All the people that felt exactly like he did everyday, lost something special, thanks to him. He didn't think he could stand this anymore, it was mental torture. To forget, it would be sweet bliss.

With this still in his mind, he wiped his damp forehead with a shaking hand, brushing his fiery locks out of his eyes. He got up and made his way in the darkness to the bathroom.

As he ran the cold tap in order to get a drink, he heard a voice behind him.

"Reno?" He looked around to see Rihanna standing in the doorway, her hand on the frame. She looked at him with concern in her eyes. "You haven't slept at all have you, not really?"

"Rihanna…"

"Reno…do you miss them?" She asked him confidently.

"Do I…? Yes, of course I do." Wasn't it obvious?

"Yes me too…everyday I think about them." She said coming further into the room. Reno looked at her; there was no trace of a tear in her wide green eyes. It got him thinking, they were the same…in the same position. Yet she was happy…she was being stronger than him. But she didn't have to deal with the guilt.

"Reno, listen to me for a minute." She began, sitting down on the side of the bathtub. "If you hadn't have got that money, we would probably all be dead by now anyway. We wouldn't have managed. Think of all the things that money helped us with…I'm sure mom and dad understood."

"But…why? We shouldn't have needed to get involved in things like that just to stay alive. Why couldn't we be like anyone else?"

"We just weren't lucky in that way, Reno. But we were lucky in other ways. We appreciated each other; more than most families."  
"But what good is that when you're not around to enjoy it?" He wanted to know how she had gotten over it so well.

"It's simple pleasures, Reno. We were happy. Would you not rather die happy than live a long, depressing life?"

"Did you hate me?"

"No, Reno, I didn't. I loved and cared for you all the more. You helped me. I wouldn't be here now if it weren't for you. Do you understand now?"

"Yeah…I get it." He looked up at her, smiling. "I get it." Then he laughed.

"What are you laughing at?" Rihanna asked him.

"You might be two years younger than me, but you might as well be 5 years older." He said.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it's supposed to be you that's crying, squirt. I'm supposed to comfort you, tell you it's gonna be alright, and all that big brother shit."

"Well, maybe you're getting soft." She laughed, tapping him lightly on the shoulder.


	18. Chapter 18

**Authors note: **Oh my God! I can't beleive it! This is the last chapter! Well, I'll get working on the second half right away, it's gonna be called, "Echoes in the Snow." I'm really sorry this is ridiculously short, I wanted to make it longer, but it seemed a little drabbley...

* * *

Chapter 18

"Vacaction tomorrow!" said Rihanna excitedly. They had 1 hour left to go home, and even Rude and Tseng were getting a little restless. "You looking forward to it, Reno?"

"I ain't going. I said that ages ago." He said looking up.  
"But, I thought you'd have changed you mind by now." She said, shocked.

"Nope. I'm staying here."

"Well, if you are, then so am I." Rihanna said after a long pause.

"What? No, you go."

"No."

"Stubborn cow." Reno muttered.

"Wonder where she gets it from." Elena butted in.

* * *

As she sat on the beach, Elena couldn't help but think of Reno. He had seemed much happier yesterday, yet for some reason, he didn't want to come. It wasn't like him to refuse a chance to do no work and annoy people all day. So why?

"Don't worry about Reno." Tseng said, as though reading her mind. "He's been through a lot; it just needs to settle a little."

"But I would have thought a vacation would be exactly what he needs." Elena was confused, Tseng merely shrugged his shoulders.

Elena laid back on the warm sand, still thinking of Reno. The sun was just setting, making extremely beautiful colors in the sky. She stared at them for a while not meaning to let her eyes slowly close…

* * *

Elena woke up abruptly, and tried to move her hands. She couldn't; she couldn't move anything. She opened her eyes properly and looked ahead of her. She was buried in the sand. There was only one person who could be responsible…

Sure enough, as she looked to her left, she saw two figures. Rihanna looked down at her trying not to laugh as Reno stood beside her, leaning casually on the shovel he had used to bury her with.

"Reno!" she shouted, struggling to get out of the sand. Her mood lightened a little though, when she looked at Reno's face. His trademark smirk, that none of them had seen for many months, and returned and his eyes were shining with laughter. He was happy. He laughed at her struggle.

"Miss me?" he said, holding out his hand.


	19. Notice

**Notice to Readers,**

**Thank you to everyone who read/favourited/reviewed this story. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you enjoyed this story, don't forget to check out Echoes In The Snow, which is the sequel - and also Crash and Burn, Baby, which I am currently working on as a third sequel. Thank you again!!**

**Love,**

**Laura (yes that's my real name)**


End file.
